The best of Prog rock

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Racism has been a reoccurring issue in soccer
for years and unfortunately another incident occurred on April 27 at a
game between Barcelona and Villarreal when a banana was thrown at
Daniel Alves.

The
defender was going to take a corner during the match between Barcelona and
Villarreal when a fan threw a banana that landed at his feet. He simply picked up
the banana, peeled it, took a bite and continued to play.

Daniel Alves is not the first
player to experience racist taunting during a competition but he is one of the
first to respond with humor. When he saw
the banana, he treated it as if it were a snack.

Shortly after the banana incident, Alves launched a cross that Mateo
Musacchio headed into his own goal before Lionel Messi scored Barcelona's
winner.

After the match he said that humor is
the best way to combat racism in sports.

"We
have suffered this in Spain for some time," Alves said. If you don't give
it importance, they won't achieve their objective."

The episode spread worldwide. Barcelona and
Villarreal have already manifested against it. Stars and athletes have posted
photos with bananas showing the player their support and condemning racist
acts.

Manchester
City Argentine attacker Sergio Agüero tweeted "We say no to racism. We are
all equal". He posted a picture eating a banana together with Brazilian
player Marta.

Talisca Reis, Brazilian taekwondo fighter, has also joined the movement
posting a photo holding a banana. "Say no to prejudice", she wrote.

Among celebrities, the singer Alexandre Pires posted a picture of
himself eating the fruit: "Here's the banana!! #SOMOSTODOSMACACOS".
TV hosts Luciano Huck and Angélica also mentioned the incident on Facebook.

Fifa released
an official statement condemning the episode and assured the upcoming World Cup
will be a good opportunity to reinforce the war against racism.

"Fifa condemns any type of discrimination and it is sad to see such
racist incidents continue to occur in football. We keep asking the football
community to unite and to use their voces to eradicate racism from football and
society".

"The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil will be the perfect occasion to
send a clear message to the world: football is for all and we will not tolerate
any form of discrimination", said the entity.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Orphaned Landis a progressive metalband from Israel, formed in 1991 under the name
Resurrection (changing their name in 1992 to the current name), that combinesJewishandArabianinfluences. The band has gone through several changes
over the years, but has retained two of the founding members, Kobi Farhi (vocals) and Uri Zelcha (bass). They are joined by Matan Shmuely (drums) as well as Chen Balbus (guitar/keyboard), who
replaced the founding member, Matti Svatizky in 2012. Co-Founding member Yossi
Sassi (guitars/strings) left the band in early 2014. Their lyrics
promote a message of peace and unity, particularly between the three main
Abrahamic religions: Judaism,Islam, andChristianity.

In 1992, the band changed its name from the original Resurrectionto Orphaned Land. Orphaned Land fuseprogressive anddeath metalas well asMiddle-Easternfolk musicand Arabic traditions in a form ofOriental metal. Each album has some concept related to two extreme: a meeting of East
and West, past and present, light and darkness, and God and Satan.

The band’s first
album wasSahara(1994) which was originally released as ademo. The second album,El Norra Alila(1996), had many Eastern/Oriental influences, such as "El Norra Alila"
("Illustrious God"), based on a poem sung duringYom Kippuras a plea of forgiveness. It also included songs with traditional
oriental Jewishpiyyutand Arabic melodies. The album explored the themes of light and
darkness, as well as conveying the message of commonality between the three
Abrahamic religions.

On June 11, 2012, guitarist Matty Svatitzky announced his departure from
the band, due to personal issues. Matti Svatitzky was replaced by Chen Balbus,
a young musician who was a replacement guitar player for some live shows,
before he became an official member. Chen instantly became an integral part of
the composing, writing, producing and recording of the new album, "All Is
One.

In 2012 there was an online petition for Orphaned Land to be awarded a
Nobel Prize for their commitment to allowing the Arab World to listen to their
music despite bans on such a thing from Arab League countries.